Water Contamination: When the Colony Can't Provide Clean Water

Clean water is a human right — and in Puerto Rico, it is a right that colonialism consistently fails to guarantee.

The Contamination:
Puerto Rico's water systems face multiple contamination challenges:
1. Industrial contamination: Decades of pharmaceutical manufacturing, chemical production, and industrial activity have contaminated groundwater aquifers
2. Superfund sites: Puerto Rico has more Superfund sites per square mile than most U.S. states — many of these contaminate water supplies
3. Agricultural chemicals: Pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural operations leach into water sources
4. Bacteria and pathogens: Inadequate water treatment allows bacterial contamination — particularly in rural systems
5. Disinfection byproducts: Some treatment processes create harmful byproducts (trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids) at levels exceeding federal standards
6. Lead: Aging water infrastructure includes lead service lines and lead-containing solder

PRASA Challenges:
The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) faces enormous challenges:
- Serves approximately 97% of the population through 115 water treatment plants
- Infrastructure is aging — much of it built in the 1950s-70s
- Water loss from leaking pipes is estimated at 50-60% — meaning over half of treated water never reaches customers
- Revenues are insufficient for needed capital improvements
- Rate increases face political opposition in a population that can barely afford current rates
- Hurricane María destroyed or damaged numerous treatment facilities and distribution lines

Non-PRASA Systems:
Approximately 3% of Puerto Rico's population (over 100,000 people) receives water from small, community-managed 'non-PRASA' systems:
- These systems often lack adequate treatment
- Federal water quality standards are difficult to enforce in small rural systems
- After Hurricane María, many non-PRASA communities went weeks or months without safe water
- Some communities relied on untested well water, stream water, or Superfund-adjacent sources

The Federal Dimension:
Water quality in Puerto Rico reflects colonial inequity:
- Federal clean water funding to Puerto Rico has been lower per capita than to states
- EPA enforcement in Puerto Rico has been less rigorous than on the mainland
- The territorial government lacks the fiscal resources for major infrastructure investment
- PROMESA austerity limits PRASA's ability to invest in improvements
- The Jones Act increases the cost of importing water treatment chemicals and equipment

Post-Hurricane Crisis:
After Hurricane María:
- Water service was disrupted for weeks to months across the island
- Some communities did not recover reliable water for over a year
- Residents in affected areas drank untested water from streams and springs
- FEMA water distribution was inadequate in remote areas
- The water crisis after María was a leading contributor to excess mortality — contaminated water caused gastrointestinal illness, and lack of water complicated management of chronic conditions